Lessons from France to Australia, USA and Spain!

What Australia Can Learn from the French Riots

Fresh riots broke out in suburban Paris two weeks ago, when two teenagers died in Villiers-le-Bel after their motorcycle collided with an on duty police car. A few hours later, young people expressed their anger by burning cars, garbage cans and buildings. Fighting between suburban youths and French police continued over the following nights. Shot guns and air rifles aimed at authorities were retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets.

It is unclear who caused the motorcycle accident and whether police ran away from the incident, but locals are adamant that the officers should have done more about it. The presence of helicopters and 1000 riot police quelled the riots on Tuesday night, however the calm has not yet returned.

The riots recall similar incidents in October 2005, when France succumbed to three weeks of violence when two teenagers were electrocuted after being pursued by police. Their rage was a result of the country’s inability to address ongoing immigration problems. Poverty and unemployment are high among North African migrant families, who live in decrepit housing commission estates outside city centres.

Nicolas Sarkozy, who at the time was France’s Interior Minister, became deeply unpopular among second-generation migrant youths living in the suburbs when he referred to them as ‘thugs.’ Now President of the Republic, Sarkozy has no sympathy for the recent rioters. ’What happened in Villiers-le-Bel has nothing to do with a social crisis. It has everything to do with a thugocracy,’ he admonished.

Despite Sarkozy’s comments, it is France’s inability to perceive North African migrants and their children as part of the same society that lies at the heart of the riots. Before the revolution which gave birth to the nation’s motto, ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity,’ France was a class-structured society, and remnants of hierarchical thinking remain embedded in French culture, behaviour and institutions. The paradox of being a nation which represents both equality and hierarchy has adversely meant that, these days, equality is limited to the majority.

Second-generation migrants may call themselves French because that is where they were born, but they often do not feel like they belong to the wider French culture. Not wanting to integrate into a society which seems to reject them, their parents’ culture represents a nostalgic homeland they cannot reach. Second-generation youths find themselves in limbo and in effect, a subculture is created: les jeunes des banlieues, or ‘the kidz of the suburbs.’

Finding solidarity among their shared anger, the riots mark an attempt to be heard. By burning cars, they mark their territory. By shooting at police, they want to avenge the deaths of their friends. However, many are aware that rioting is not the solution. ’We don’t think it’s a good thing to destroy the shops,’ explained 19-year-old Marc, ’but we’re in this all together.’

The French Government has condemned the recent violence, which includes the burning of libraries, local businesses and empty buses. Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara, who grew up in the suburbs before rising through the political ranks, described the riots as an ‘anarchic urban violence carried out by a minority, who tarnish the minority.’ Holding onto the idea that collecting ethnic data contradicts the principles of equality, specific needs of minority groups are ignored by the state. Rather than offering support in order to give the disadvantaged an equal chance in French society, Sarkozy does not help, calling it a ‘handout.’

In January, a Government-led ‘action’ plan addressing the problems of the suburbs will be unveiled in France. It is hoped that better education and real employment opportunities — with the possibility of career advancement — will give suburban youth hope for their future. Even so, what the rioters seem to want is a recognition of their migrant identity and cultural heritage as part of the French national identity. They want to be able to justify their recent anger.

Although located on the other side of the globe, Australia itself is not immune to ‘race’ riots. At the end of 2005, fighting between Anglo-Australian and Lebanese-Australian youths in and around Cronulla, a Sydney beachside suburb, rocked our belief that we were a country in which egalitarianism ruled.

The circumstances are different, of course, but even so, Australia is not as laidback and multicultural as we like to believe. With over 6 million people from over 200 countries coming to Australia since 1945, racism is more likely to be dished out on a personal level. Whether it be knife attacks, primary school taunting, random verbal abuse or the chilling slogan ‘We grew here, you flew here’ displayed during the Cronulla riots, individual attitudes toward immigrants can be frightening. One Nation may have seemed like an extremist political party to the majority of the population, but it appealed to the sentiments held by some White Australians and allowed the Howard Government to employ similarly tough rhetoric against migrants and asylum seekers.

An article in French newspaper Le Monde analysed Australia’s immigration policies, highlighting our selective entry process — which responds to the country’s economic needs — as a successful initiative. Australia was considered less violent than the United States and relatively harmonious when compared to the Middle East. And yet, one Indian-Australian spoke of the ‘redneck’ attitude among his colleagues, likening his ethnic background to those of savages. Moreover, the Howard Government decided to reduce the number of Africans let into the country this year, because it was ’more difficult‘ for them to integrate into Australian society.

Despite our seeming multiculturalism, we still treat others as ‘the Other.’ On election night our esteemed new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, vowed that he would send boat people back to their home countries. Gone are the days when everyone was a mate, treated fair dinkum and given a fair go. It seems that the Lucky Country is limited to those lucky enough to be allowed in.

The danger for Australia is whether individual racist attitudes become an institutionalised mindset. The citizenship test, which measures a foreigner’s likelihood to adapt to our society, has caused controversy about what it means to be an Australian. New migrants should be given a chance to make Australia ‘theirs,’ even if this means a shift in national identity.